Keep a watchful eye for perfectly still rabbits while stalking.

The brown form crouched in the knee-high grass was statue still -- except for one black eye. If the eye hadn't blinked I would have stalked right past the bunny. I slowly eased forward a bit, dropped to one knee so I could get a better shot, pulled back the hammer, gripped the gun tightly with both hands and pulled the trigger. I missed -- the slug plowed into the sod 6 inches behind the sitting bunny. Evidently the rabbit was as surprised as I was about the entire affair. He remained sitting. Or maybe he thought he was safe. I quickly thumbed back the hammer again and took careful aim -- this time a bit in front of the rabbit, and fired. Through the cloud of smoke, amazingly the rabbit was still sitting, this time with a furrow plowed right in front of his nose. I thumbed back the hammer for the third time, and just as I took aim he spurted out of his hidey-hole at full speed. I swung ahead of the speeding rabbit, fired and watched in amazement as he tumbled head over heels and piled up against a small brushpile. Two misses at a sitting rabbit and one lucky shot at a speeding rabbit. My average was going up. I had missed another rabbit three times, but I was having fun.

I was shooting a Navy Arms replica blackpowder-burning .44-caliber revolver. Patterned after the 1858 Remington Army Revolver, it is one of the more accurate Civil War replicas and deadly in the hands of an expert shooter. As you can guess, I'm not a hotshot handgunner. I do love to hunt with blackpowder handguns and cottontail rabbits are one of my favorites for several reasons. They're easy to locate, fun to stalk, easy to knock down with a light load and great tasting.

I like to hunt rabbits with modern guns, bow and black powder. They're fun with rifle, shotgun or handgun, and numerous hunting methods are fun and productive. You can follow a pack of lively beagles, drive rabbit patches with a bunch of hunting friends, or stalk them slowly on a one-on-one situation.

The latter is one of my favorites and I especially like the challenge of stalking bunnies with a blackpowder handgun. It's not only challenging, but exciting and sometimes quite productive. You can't help but get excited when you make a good shot at a speeding rabbit with a blackpowder handgun.

In fact, blackpowder handguns are a heck of a lot of fun to shoot, and hunting with them just adds to the pleasure. There are three types of blackpowder handguns, cap-and-ball revolvers, in-line and the old fashioned pistols. The former, although often called muzzleloaders actually load through the front cylinder. Cap and ball revolvers offer the advantage of several shots loaded and ready to go. Kentucky-style pistols are also fun in either flintlock or percussion cap. They are loaded from the muzzle and are true muzzleloaders. A number of in-line models are now available. 

A wide variety of both types are available in replica models and part of the fun is shooting the various types. They do not require a FFL to purchase and are reasonably priced. You can further reduce the cost by purchasing one of the kits on the market and assembling your own blackpowder handgun. It's fun and fairly easy for anyone with just a bit of woodworking experience.

Pistols, revolvers and handguns are available in a variety of calibers with .44 and .45 the most common. These provide plenty of knockdown power for all types of small game.

Muzzleloading handguns are loaded and fired just like their long-barreled counterparts. Pay special attention to safety rules, as the shorter barreled guns are quite easy to point in the wrong direction.

Cap-and-ball revolvers are loaded and fired somewhat differently. First place a cap on each nipple and fire the caps to dry out the chambers. Then place the hammer in the half-cock position so the cylinder can rotate. Using a powder measure, pour a charge of powder into one chamber. Place a bullet or ball in the mouth of the chamber, turn the cylinder so the bullet lines up with the loading lever, and use the lever to firmly seat the ball or bullet in place. It should be firmly seated on the powder charge and at least 1/16 inch below the front surface of the cylinder. Then load the additional four chambers in a six-shot gun, or three chambers in a five-shot gun, always leaving an empty chamber for the hammer to rest on.

Blackpowder pistols come in a wide variety to suit any handgunner.

With the wide variety of blackpowder handguns available, loads vary a great deal. Information booklets that come from the manufacturer with the handgun indicate the proper loads and with any type of muzzleloader using the proper load is the first step in not only safe shooting, but accuracy as well. In fact, lighter loads often provide more accurate shooting in all muzzleloading, and that is even more evident in pistol shooting. That's another plus for hunting rabbits, as it doesn't take a lot of knockdown power for a bunny, and a light, accurate shooting load is the best choice. Twenty grains of black powder is considered a good starting place. Or you can substitute 16 grains of Pyrodex. I prefer the latter because there are less fouling problems, more shots in the field between cleanings, and it's easier to clean the gun.

Regardless of what type of gun and caliber you choose, the first step is to test fire it with a wide variety of loads to determine the best load. You should also test fire at different distances, starting at about 30 yards and moving up to about 15 feet, which is probably both the outer and inner limits of rabbit hunting shots.

Most states also have wildlife management areas primarily for upland game hunting, and these also offer excellent rabbit hunting situations. Such areas are usually extremely good in the latter part of the season, when most hunters have gone home for the winter. Contact your state game and fish department for details on locations and best spots.

Fresh snow makes tracking bunnies easy.  If you find the sign, you'll find the rabbits nearby.

Once you master the techniques of blackpowder handgunning and find a place to hunt, it's all downhill from there. Hunting rabbits is easy and fun. The simplest method is to walk through, stomp on and kick every brushpile, weed clump or briar patch you can find. You're going to find rabbits that way, but usually they'll be going faster than the proverbial "speeding bullet." It's mighty challenging shooting with a blackpowder handgun. A better method is to stalk these covers slowly and methodically. Hunt early in the morning or late in the afternoon with the cover between you and the sun and you'll often be able to silhouette sitting bunnies for easier shots.